Go-ahead for Vår Energi’s drilling ops in Barents Sea

September 2, 2025, by Melisa Cavcic

Vår Energi, Norway’s oil and gas player, has obtained the green light for drilling activities in the Barents Sea, which will be carried out with COSL Drilling Europe’s semi-submersible rig.

COSL Prospector rig; Credit: COSL Drilling Europe

The Norwegian Ocean Industry Authority (Havtil) has granted Vår Energi consent for exploration drilling in block 7122/8 in the Barents Sea. As a result, the firm will be able to spud the well 7122/8-4 S, also known as the Zagato prospect, in production license 229, which is valid from May 30, 1997, up to May 15, 2042.

Vår Energi has a 65% interest in the Barents Sea license, where the semi-submersible will undertake hydrocarbon exploration activities, while Equinor, as the firm’s partner, holds the remaining 35% stake.

Situated in a water depth of 406 meters, this Norwegian prospect will be drilled with the COSL Prospector semi-submersible rig, which got a two-year contract in September 2023 with Vår Energi in the Barents Sea and started the job in the third quarter of 2024.

The rig deal, with three years of extension options for a maximum duration of five years, builds on the cooperation between Vår Energi and Equinor, enabling the duo to secure access to the rig for the 2024-2026 period.

With a maximum drilling depth of 7,500 meters, the COSL Prospector rig is of GG5000 design and can operate in water depths up to 1,500 meters. Most recently, the semi-submersible drilled a dry well for Equinor 135 kilometers west of the Snøhvit field and 260 kilometers northwest of Hammerfest.